Best No Annual Fee Credit Card

In the past, you had to pay annual fees if you sought to get rewards from any credit card. These charges unlocked various bonuses, which included the potential to get rewards — either points or cash back— on each dollar spent. Luckily, there are more options now. In this post, we look at the best no annual fee credit card - 2018 options.

What are No Fees Credit Cards and How They Compare to Others

A rewards credit card does not make financial sense if you do not use it enough to compensate for the fees. A lot of Canadians can’t justify an outlay of as much as $100 annually for the benefit of receiving rewards. There are numerous reasons why fee-based cards with bonuses don’t make sense financially, whether you’re a newcomer to Canada, a meticulous budgeter, or you’re on a reduced income.

There are, luckily, numerous credit cards with no fees that still permit you to access various other benefits, for example, insurance, and to earn rewards.

Best No Annual Fees Credit Cards for 2018 - Top 3 Picks

Here are the choices from CompareMyRates.ca for the best no annual fee credit cards for the year 2018 in Canada. We have a credit card that’s suitable for you, regardless if you desire rewards or cash back because you pay a lot for groceries, or you’re seeking to pay down your debt.

Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card

The card most likely to be the best no annual fee credit card for this year is the Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card, which was also popular in 2017. You receive 2 percent cash back in any two spending categories when you use this credit card for purchases. You also earn 0.5 percent cash back on anything else that you buy.

Tangerine credits cash back once a month to your statement. You’ll get benefits in a third spending category receiving 2 percent cash back if you opt to let the bank place your earnings on a Tangerine savings account. The groupings available are restaurants, groceries, drugstore, gas, furniture, entertainment, recurring bills, hotel-motel, public transportation, home improvement, and parking. This credit card is well liked in Canada because the category choices make it very customizable to your distinctive spending patterns.

The Scotiabank Gold American Express Card

If you’re a frequent traveler, you can cut your significant expenditures and earn on your routine purchases with the Scotiabank Gold AmEx card. Cardholders are not required to shell out the $99 annual fee in the first year and are entitled to obtain a modest starting bonus if they spend as little as $750 during the first three months. Scotiabank rewards cardholders with 30,000 points after they reach this milestone. These points are equivalent to $300. Since you can use the points for cruises, flights, rental cars, hotels, and more, this represents a substantial deduction on cardholders’ future travel expenses.

Rogers Platinum MasterCard

The Rogers Platinum MasterCard partially sponsors foreign transaction fees, and it also comes with the unbelievable bonus of 1.75 percent cash back. The value for persons making US dollar purchases online and for travelers is phenomenal – the card offers 4 percent cash back on purchases made abroad.

When matched against the competition the Rogers Platinum MasterCard is unique, owing to the value you receive on foreign purchases. For a regular card, for example, you might get 2 percent cash back, but if it charges a fee on international transactions of say 2.5 percent, it costs you 0.5% for each dollar spent. With Rogers, your net earnings will be 1.5 percent cash back after foreign exchange fees!

The Rogers Platinum MasterCard, which is not only for Rogers’ customers, has an excellent cash back flat rate, and it’s one of the best no annual fee credit cards for 2018 in Canada. You can earn 1.75 percent cash back in non-bonus categories, and because it has no fees for foreign transactions, it’s an excellent card to make online U.S. dollar purchases, bring with you on vacation, or to use in combination with a Tangerine card.

Why Use a No Annual Fee Credit Card in 2018

There has never been a better time to look for the best no annual fee credit card in Canada than 2018. Whether you're looking for rewards, cash back, a free flight, miles, or low-interest rates, issuers are stuffing tons of value onto their no annual fee card offerings.

There are usually four excellent reasons to look for the best no annual credit card for you:

Firstly, you don’t spend enough to justify a yearly fee.

Secondly, if your primary credit card is frozen or it gets lost or stolen, you’ll have a back-up in your wallet.

Thirdly, you don’t need some of the extras offered by annual fee credit cards.

Finally, you’re unwilling to commit to the account type without trying it first.

Regardless of your reason, it’s important to note that there have never been more credit cards without annual fees providing as much value as we have today.

No Annual Fees Credit Cards - Conclusion

If you like rewards, keep in mind that the best offer is no annual fee for the first year, coupled with a welcome bonus of a free flight. If there are no yearly fees, you can take out as many cards with strong welcome incentives as you’d like. Just make sure you pay attention to any minimum spend requirements and be careful to spread out your applications a bit. Besides that, it’s an excellent opportunity to obtain a free flight and to test different cards to figure out which rewards program is the best!

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